Sustenance
by Leopardmoon
Summary: It has been a year since Zero left Cross Academy, and with it, his old life. He still remembers his vow - to rid the world of Purebloods - and the girl who didn't love him back. But none of that will matter when the mission he undertakes goes from weird to weirder. This isn't the world he knew...and that girl isn't Yuki. But she looks delicious. Welcome to America. (Zero X OC)


**Sustenance**

_(Meow, this is Leopardmoon and I cordially greet you at the start of a brand new story. That's right, another story with no seeming end in sight, just an idea that flows where it will. Please enjoy anyway as I promise nothing but my heart and soul when the idea strikes me._

_**This fanfic is purely for entertainment purposes and I do not claim – whatsoever – the rights to Vampire Knight or any other game/book/music/fiction related stuff I mention. The only things that belong to me are the plot and every original character that I make up. Also, this isn't exactly the Vampire Knight world you remember. You'll see.**__)_

"There isn't much you can enjoy in life when you hate yourself…when your very existence is the bane of every breathing creature on this fragile earth. But at least I have purpose. At least, I _did_ have a purpose. But somehow I got myself caught up in this mess, in a world that I don't know right from left and black from white. And then there's this girl, god, why does there always have to be a girl? Can't they see that it would be so much better if everyone just left me by myself? The opposite of where I started."

**Chapter I: Under the Rain**

He should have guessed it would rain. A new country, a new city, a new day…but always, the shadows of his past came trailing after him, refusing to let him _be_. Always the skies raged at his arrival, cursing this unnatural child of the night with torrents of water and flashes of crackling light whether it was night or day. One could already see the light show and begin the countdown for the ominous rumbling that was Fate's hungry roar. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four…nah, forget it. It was a waste of time to think further on the various ways the gods liked to meddle with his life; this was just another curse upon many. Truly, he should be thankful for the cover as everyone scurried inside their hidey-holes despite it only being the afternoon. He didn't like being asked questions.

If anyone saw him now, they _would_ ask questions. Maybe not out loud – but the questions would be asked nonetheless. He wasn't your usual guy, and that was an understatement.

Standing at six feet tall, Zero Kiryu was a force to be reckoned with, all lean muscle without an ounce of fat. His straight, ungroomed hair was undeniably gray, an odd sight to see on a young man who was just pushing his second decade at the age of nineteen. But even more eerie than that were his silver eyes, glimpses into a shattered soul that spoke of pain, clouded over by a curtain of ice. The echo of loss was etched into his cold features, more that of a statue than of a living being, yet even that was not enough to take away his handsomeness. Indeed, such emotion only enhanced his physical appearance; surely any weak-willed woman would faint on the spot if she saw the way his drenched clothes were sticking to him. He was soaked to the bone in only a thin white t-shirt and black skinny jeans, but the cold bothered him not at all.

This was Pintar Beach, a surprisingly average and seemingly quiet beachside Southern Californian city. On the outside, it was forgettable as anything but a vacation spot, or a place to retire to. But Zero knew better. This was Pintar Beach, a city as curious as they came. The folk were a suspicious bunch and the reasons behind it all were the mysterious disappearances and murders that nobody talked about. Citizens taken in the dead of night with no signs of intruders, corpses found drained of blood lying in lonely alleyways, and whispers of things with glowing eyes…sound like anything familiar?

_Vampires. _He was sure of it. The Vampire Hunter Association was sure of it. It was strange to think of it – American vampires – but that was what all evidence suggested. Vampires were thought to have been confined strictly to Japan…but perhaps not. Perhaps there had been an intermingling. This was why the entire mission was to be kept a secret; Zero officially was visiting an old friend of Kaien's who had retired in America in order to learn some new tricks of the trade.

Leaving Japan hadn't been as painful as he had originally thought, although neither were the lessons in English, but that was probably because he still remembered much of what he had learned in school.

No, his other issue was much different. It had been a whole year since he had last seen, it hurt to even remember her name, _Yuki_. He had made a solemn vow to rid the world of Purebloods, so that finally there would be an end to the creation of vampires, and he would see it through to the end. But…maybe not quite yet. He wasn't ready to face those two Purebloods at least. Until then he faced other contracts and sated his hunger with their blood.

Was that cowardly of him?

Grimacing, Zero slipped his hands into his empty pockets and just let the rain crash down. By now the thunder and lightning had died down leaving only the comforting sound of fat droplets hitting the concrete pavement of the sidewalk. The teen didn't even have any idea where he was exactly going, just that his instincts had never been wrong before. It was only his heart that had betrayed him.

So he was surprised when he didn't feel any fresh droplets splashing openly onto his soaked form anymore, and he at once moved to assess the reason why. Cautious silver met warm brown and for a moment the world seemed to shatter around him. _Yuki._ She was here, the human Yuki! He _knew_ that short, brown hair and that sweet smile, and…and…_it wasn't her._

Zero could feel his world reorient itself until everything was exactly as it had been. That's right, that Yuki was dead. He shouldn't be confusing human look-a-likes with a dead girl. He could see the other teen hesitate, her small smile faltering as she held out the big purple umbrella over their heads. She wasn't very tall, he'd guess an inch or two taller than Yuki, and it was quite the stretch for her to extend the umbrella over his head. Now he could see all the differences – her face wasn't the same with a bigger nose, longer eyelashes, and darker irises. Even her hair was different as she didn't have bangs and the longest strands of her layered cut lay just past her shoulders. And of course she looked more Caucasian than Japanese, probably a mix.

She shyly lowered her gaze under his calculating examination, her arms shaking a little – probably from the strain of holding the umbrella so high. "Um," the strange girl began hesitantly and he wondered how old she was at the sound of her soft, high-pitched voice, "…you looked like you could use one. An umbrella."

It took his brain a moment to absorb the English words before they clicked into place. For a moment, he probably seemed to be sizing her up again judging by the look in her eyes. He knew he was a cold bastard, but he still didn't have to like the way she looked at him – as if he was going to hurt her. Didn't she know that only made it worse? Because not only did she look a little like his Yuki, she acted a little like his Yuki too, and that was enough to make him _want her blood_. So bad. That made him freaking _dangerous_. And there was no one else out in this chilly, rainy, lonely street that ran along a bunch of little shops in the city.

But to his surprise, her eyes suddenly seemed to harden and her grip on the umbrella tightened as well. "Look, I'm not trying to come on to you or anything like that. You're going to freeze to death if you keep going like that, so, yeah. I don't care if you got family issues or whatnot just let me help you. And I'm not taking no for a freaking answer, got it?!" Again, only the sound of the rain was answering her. The silver-haired teen couldn't find his voice, wasn't even sure if he could find the will to move away. Especially not when she exhaled loudly in annoyance, closing the umbrella with deft fingers, and clipping it to her belt, before tucking her hair smoothly back from her ears…exposing that neck of hers even further.

The brunette was better prepared than him in a black jacket over a purple sweater and a pair of regular blue jeans, her new purple boots ready to roll despite the unexpected weather change from sunny to rainy (thanks to waterproofing spray). "Fine, we'll do things your way! No umbrella it is, so unless you want _me_ to get a cold and die as well you'll go inside that Coffee shop just a few doors down. _Please_, Mr. Silent Dude." She just glared at him, ignoring the downpour as it began to work its way through her clothing and into her skin. The idea of going inside actually seemed to wake him up a bit, and it was with a certain amount of effort he tore himself away from gazing at the fragile barrier of her skin that was the only thing separating himself from her sweet blood and back down along the sidewalk.

Zero led the way with the girl falling right into step behind him – almost like a second shadow. She was quiet when she walked and maybe that was why he hadn't noticed her approaching him. Even her clearly heeled boots didn't seem to make any noise as they hit the sidewalk with each step. Something was giving him the chills, and it wasn't the rain. But there was no way she was a vampire – he would know right away. So then what the hell was up with this chick?

He ran a hand through his slick, wet hair and sighed in defeat. Maybe his instincts had actually been trying to get him to this Coffee shop anyway, or maybe he needed to get the hell out of here while he still could and come up with an actual plan than to walk around in the rain like a lost puppy.

"Hey, Mr. Mute! This is it."

At the sound of the girl's now strong and less high-pitched voice (how she sounded earlier must have been her 'nice voice'), he stopped walking. Briefly, he toyed with the idea of getting away again as he stared at his battered boots. He dismissed the idea at once, however, when he felt a warm hand encapture his own. Startled, Zero again found himself gazing into the strange brunette's eyes. "I just, well…you aren't really mute, are you? I'm sorry if you are and I just assumed that you can talk and…yeah." She awkwardly let go of his hand and it was hard not to notice that her own clothes were sticking to her close to a second skin. It was a good thing she had two layers on top or he might have seen something she wouldn't want to be seen.

"…no. I can speak, I just didn't feel like talking to some girl," Zero told her at last in lightly accented English. "Sorry." He shrugged before thinking all was well and done, went ahead and opened the door of the Coffee shop then stepped inside. The cheery bright colors and luminous lights on the interior almost made him wince, even though it wasn't like he was a pure enough vampire to feel the effects of the Sun nor did he care if a shop decided to go for a neon-colored theme. He scarcely noticed the change from cold to warm, although he was certainly leaving an amazing example of a puddle on the floor. "…"

"RRRWWWAAAAARRRRRR!" The roar of a beast reverberated in his ears and he gasped at the harsh sound, noting how his body went on the defensive automatically. The Bloody Rose was whisked from a hidden pocket, and although soaking wet, it looked none the worse for its unexpected bath. In fact, it gleamed as it was aimed directly at – the girl. _Damn it all_, he thought as he continued to drip all over the wooden floor, _so much for keeping a cover. Can I keep her from telling people I have a gun? Kind of ruins everything…_

"SOME GIRL? SORRY?" she screeched indignantly, fists curled into tight balls at her sides. The brunette was shaking all over, her head lowered so that a curtain of brown strands hid her face from view. "I-I WANT TO…TO, no." Confused, admittedly worried for her mental health, and disgustingly intrigued he watched as she proceeded to slam her head into the floor repeatedly. Shit, this had to stop. Zero placed his hands gently on each side of her face before raising it to look straight at him, restraining her with a surprising amount of difficulty. She was breathing heavily and her warm breath felt good against his skin. There was this wild look in her brown irises, and she was trying terribly hard to aim a weak smile his way.

"S-sorry. I went a little weird there, just for a sec. I don't like getting m-mad at people. G-good thing Auntie wasn't here to see that."

He just blankly stared at her. "Haahaa, heh, haaaa…" Zero didn't really know why he was laughing, his gun was still out in plain view, just lying there on the floor. But he was thankful there were no customers in the little shop to see it.

_Zero, get it together!_ He cursed himself deeply within the confines of his own mind, finally shutting off the laughing valve and leaving him again nothing but a silent, wet ragdoll sitting hunched over on the floor.

"I guess, we all need our breakdown moments…huh?" The vampire hunter glanced over at the girl, his piercing silver eyes once again questioning what he knew about this stranger. Maybe she was insane. But then again, there was a depth to those chocolate brown eyes that made him feel almost_ right_ under that gaze. It had to be the Yuki thing again, and boy did he need to get over that, but he couldn't deny it felt _good_. Damn it all, she was freaking distracting. He had work to do and very little money to accomplish any of it.

"You know, you never gave me your name. Then again, I never gave you mine." The girl said this as she stood up from her kneeling position on the floor, droplets still running down her face and onto the floor. "I'm Loyal. I know, I know, what a weird name. I'm not even really loyal, you know? But that's the ideal my parents wanted me to embody and so Loyal Theodora Brady it is! What a crack up…" She kept going but Zero lost her after this point, her mouth running too fast and his brain running too slow to keep up with all the English going through. He was pretty sure that she wasn't saying anything important however.

"…I guess that about sums it up. So, yeah. Uh, you want to like, tell me about yourself and stuff too now? That'd be great while I just ruffle through this pile of junk back here. I swear Auntie needs to organize our extras better…" Zero merely watched as she ducked behind the counter, listening to the sound of her rifling through the pile of 'junk.' "I'm still listening you know!" Oh, guess she was paying attention after all. He lay back against the floor, comfortable except for the way his clothes were plastered to his body, and contemplated exactly how much he should tell this stranger. Her name may be Loyal, but it certainly wasn't Trust. Alright, that was a lame joke. _Katte ni shiro!_ (Whatever!)

"…My name is Zero. You're not the only one with a strange name, I guess you could say. I came here to…America, on business. I am from Japan you see. But my wallet was stolen from me when I first entered your city. I…have nothing."

"…" Hrm, maybe she wasn't really paying attention. Oh well.

He closed his eyes just in time to miss a wet girl pop up from behind the counter triumphantly clutching a few items in her hands. She glanced over at the bored boy - he was just a boy in her eyes - and smirked. "You know, you're really moody and depressing. Lighten up a bit, okay Zero? I like that name because I had a cat named Zero once. Before…eh, you don't want to hear anymore about my life I'm sure. Once Auntie gets back from whatever thing caught her eye we'll be sure to set you up, no worries."

"…"

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here! You better not be falling asleep in a puddle of all the water you brought in with you! This is my Auntie's store you know! Hey, hey…I swear. If you don't catch a cold, you must really not be _human_."

Zero was ready to wrestle the reason Loyal had said exactly that until he heard the door open, propping himself up just in time to see another brunette walk into the shop. He mentally groaned. This must be _Auntie._ Please tell him that she was not as crazy, or as pretty, as her niece was. He couldn't take another Yuki bubbly person.

"Well, I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Loyal."

…did he look like her freaking boyfriend?!

(_Thanks for reading guys! I don't really know where I'm going with this, besides the general idea of course. But that's okay because that's how I start all my stories! If you have any questions or comments you must review! Please. 3 Alright, Leopardmoon out. I'll try not to drop off of the face of the earth. Hehe._)


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